The Linksys NSLU2, affectionately known as 'the Slug' to many of its fans, is a low-cost and compact network attached storage (NAS) device. It comes with two USB sockets and one Ethernet port and is designed to allow the connection of two USB hard disks (or USB flash drives) to a wired LAN for easy sharing of storage. However, as we shall see, the Slug is a lot more flexible and adaptable than is suggested by that bare spec.

Installation and configuration is remarkably straightforward. Plug the supplied Ethernet cable into your router, attach your hard disk(s) or USB flash drive(s) to the appropriate ports, plug the power cable in and switch on. After a brief self-test the Slug will signal that it's ready and configuration can begin. This is performed from any machine connected to the same network, and the setup program simply walks through collecting basic config information, including IP addressing (it can use DHCP or a fixed IP address), workgroup name, server name, date and time setting and so on.

Once configured, day-to-day administration and configuration changes are performed using a browser-based admin tool. This can be accessed from any machine on the network and can be used to control both the operation of the NSLU2 and how the attached storage is configured and shared across the network.

Internally the NSLU2 runs Linux, which has more pluses than minuses. The most obvious minus is that the attached hard disk has to be reformatted to work with Linux (it uses a form of ext3 file system). This means that the attached hard disk can't be disconnected from the NSLU2 and attached directly onto a Windows machine. However, as the whole point of the box is to provide shared storage, this is not such a big issue.

On the plus side it means that the NSLU2 has a lot of smarts built in. It can be used to provide disk quotas to groups of users, it can provide shared storage for groups, individual storage for named users and so on. In short, it provides the kind of functionality traditionally associated with a dedicated file server, though at a fraction of the price and with a tiny footprint (both in size and power requirements).

USB flash drives do not have to be reformatted to be used with the NSLU2, and in fact there is even a utility provided so that flash drives can easily be shared on the network and mapped to regular Windows drive letters. It is worth noting that the latest version of the firmware, available from the Linksys web site, adds support for USB hubs. This makes it possible to plug a hub into one of the USB ports and to use this to attach additional hard disks or flash drives.

It is also worth noting that the Linux fraternity has not been slow to realise that the NSLU2 is a fully functional Linux server. Alternative firmware is available that 'opens' the Slug fully, so that it can act as a print server, development box, Web or media server and much more. For those who like to dabble, the NSLU2 is a must-have device.

The Linksys NSLU2 is highly recommended. It's easy to configure, provides good functionality, looks good, is decidedly compact and at the price it's hard to beat.